Holometabola
Clade of insects
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Evolution
The Holometabola constitute the most diverse insect superorder, with over 1 million living species divided between 11 orders, containing insects such as butterflies, flies, fleas, bees, ants, and beetles.
The earliest holometabolan fossils date from the Carboniferous.
The Holometabola are sometimes divided into three assemblages: Neuropterida (Neuroptera, Megaloptera, Raphidioptera, Strepsiptera and Coleoptera), Hymenopteroida (Hymenoptera), and Panorpida (Siphonaptera, Diptera, Trichoptera, Lepidoptera and Mecoptera).
Molecular analysis has clarified the group's phylogeny, as shown in the cladogram.
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Description
The Endopterygota are distinguished from the Exopterygota ("external winged forms") by the way in which their wings develop. Endopterygota ("internal winged forms") develop wings inside the body and undergo an elaborate metamorphosis, holometabolism, involving a pupal stage. The Exopterygota develop wings on the outside of their bodies and do not go through a pupal stage. The Exopterygota are not a natural group (they are paraphyletic).